United Nations A/70/357–S/2015/682

General Assembly Security Council

Distr.: General 2 September 2015 Original: English

15-14893 (E) 100915 *1514893*

General Assembly Seventieth session Items 56, 57 and 123 of the provisional agenda*

Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects

Comprehensive review of special political missions

Strengthening of the United Nations system

Security Council Seventieth year

The future of United Nations peace operations: implementation of the recommendations of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations

Report of the Secretary-General

I. Background

1. On 31 October 2014, I commissioned a High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations to conduct a comprehensive assessment of United Nations peace operations today and how they can be made more effective, efficient and responsive in a changing world. On 16 June 2015, the Panel delivered its report (A/70/95-S/2015/446). I thank and congratulate President José Ramos-Horta and the rest of the Panel for the excellent report that they have produced, after extensive consultations with Member States, other organizations and civil society groups. The present report constitutes my response to and agenda with which to take forward the recommendations of the Panel.

II. Introduction

2. “To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”: the opening words of the Charter capture the purpose of the United Nations. Seventy years later, that objective has never appeared as urgent or as challenging. Since 2008 the number of major violent conflicts has almost tripled. Long-simmering disputes have escalated or relapsed into wars, while new conflicts have emerged in countries and regions

* A/70/150.

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once considered stable. Labels assigned to conflict, such as “internal”, “inter-State”, “regional”, “ethnic” or “sectarian”, have become increasingly irrelevant as transnational forces of violent extremism and organized crime build on and abet local rivalries. Environmental degradation and resource deprivation are not contained by borders. Exclusion at home is driving tension abroad. The number of people displaced by war is approaching 60 million, and global humanitarian needs for 2015 amount to close to $20 billion.

3. Violent crises are drawing unprecedented levels of international engagement. United Nations special political missions and peacekeeping operations today deploy more than 128,000 people in 39 missions, more than at any time in their history. African and European regional organizations are undertaking crisis management operations across, and on occasion beyond, their continents. Multiple mediators, envoys and observers range the globe. International and national non -governmental organizations are deploying to conflict zones to help to de -escalate and monitor violence. Many of those efforts are contributing to saving lives and to mitigating the impact of violence.

4. However, the proliferation of conflict is outpacing our efforts. Millions of people continue to live in fear and misery. Failure to prevent or halt war in the Syrian Arab Republic, in South Sudan and elsewhere dominates public consciousness. In an era of social media, the horrifying excesses of violent extremism visit our homes daily. Divisions and competition between States are hindering coherent international responses where they are most needed. A profound uncertainty is emerging among our populations over the adequacy of global, regional and national institutions at a time when demands placed on them are greater than ever.

5. Since its founding, the United Nations has worked to prevent, mitigate and resolve violent conflict through a range of actions, from support to human rights and inclusive development to prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and longer-term recovery and reconstruction. Too often, however, efforts have been fragmented and unequal to the task. The limits of our engagement are reflected in United Nations peace operations, the most visible face of the Organization. Over six decades, they have shown a remarkable capacity to adjust to evolving situations and new demands, guided by well-established principles. However, missions are struggling to cope with the spread and intensity of conflicts today, and the lack of unity among Member States over their scope and application is thwarting their adaptation. Within peace operations, the shameful actions of some individuals are tarnishing the efforts of tens of thousands. I am convinced that we can and must do more to tackle such profound challenges.

6. The report of the Panel provides a solid foundation to do so. The Panel considers different environments and tasks that diverse peace operations confront today and offers bold and balanced recommendations to strengthen them. It urges us to restore the search for peaceful political settlement to the centre of United Nations efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts and protect civilians. It emphasizes partnerships with regional organizations, host Governments and local communities to achieve this. It calls for the “full spectrum” of peace operations to be used more flexibly, “a continuum of responses and smoother transitions between different phases of missions” enabled by a “field-focused administrative framework”. The

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Panel stresses the urgent need for new approaches to preventing conflicts and mediating disputes before violence erupts.

7. Those messages are complemented by other reviews before Member States in the coming months. The Advisory Group of Experts on the Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture points to fragmentation that weakens international efforts, and contends that sustaining peace must be a core task of the United Nations. The global study on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) examines progress in placing women at the centre of the United Nations peace and security agenda. The upcoming World Humanitarian Report and Summit will focus on the impact of conflict and exclusion on the safety and dignity of the most vulnerable. Later in 2015, I will introduce a plan of action that includes practical measures to prevent violent extremism.

8. There is a collective call for urgent change in how we conceive of our peace and security instruments, how we apply them and how we work together to maximize impact. Drawing on the Panel’s recommendations, the present report sets out priorities and the key actions required to bring them about. My action plan centres on three pillars: renewed focus on prevention and mediation;; stronger regional-global partnerships;; and new ways of planning and conducting United Nations peace operations to make them faster, more responsive and more accountable to the needs of countries and people in conflict. Some actions refl ect my long-standing priorities, including the strong preventive focus of my Human Rights Up Front initiative. Others build on lessons, sometimes painful, from efforts to respond to conflict over the past eight years of my tenure. Some steps I have already initiated, while others require longer-term efforts and sustained attention. Together, they represent a comprehensive effort to strengthen United Nations peace operations and the Organization’s ability to address conflict.

9. To reflect the Panel’s recommendations, and to capture the holistic and tailored way in which United Nations peace and security tools must be used if we are to achieve better and more sustained effect, I use the term “peace operations” throughout the present report. The term refers to all field -based peace and security operations mandated or endorsed by the Security Council and/or the General Assembly, including peacekeeping operations and special political missions, as well as the envoys and regional offices carrying out my good offices.

III. Priorities for United Nations peace operations in today’s world

Pursuit of political settlements

10. The Panel reminds us that a negotiated political settlement is the fundamental objective of United Nations peace operations. The type of political settlement matters. Widespread violations of human rights often trigger a United Nations peace operation, and progress in the protection of those rights is a basis for its exit. The United Nations thus advocates for political settlements that promote peaceful and inclusive societies and help to advance human rights. This is not a lofty ideal ;; it makes hard practical sense, and is at the heart of the operational aspects of Human Rights Up Front. Societies with effective, inclusive and accountable institutions are more likely to withstand crises and peacefully manage disputes. Communities that recognize the dignity of each individual stand less chance of fue lling resentments that can manifest in extremism.

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11. Political solutions to conflict rest, ultimately, on a country’s people and leaders. Effective conflict response, as the Panel notes, needs to take account of national and local priorities and needs. It must be directed at building domestic capacity to protect and strengthen inclusive peace. However, we must be honest about the challenges that this involves. Countries in conflict are de facto divided communities, reflecting a breakdown of consensus about which priorities and whose needs matter. Finding solutions may mean bringing in multiple voices and competing claims. It must mean that the United Nations speaks to all parties and all those exerting influence on them.

12. The ability of United Nations missions to engage all partners in crafting and maintaining political solutions is determined by their political weight. Peace operations do not deploy without significant international backing. However, support is not always sustained or accompanied by coordinated pressure on warring parties or those assisting them. In Darfur, United Nations peacekeepers work in a vacuum of political negotiations. In the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen, my Envoys search for ways to initiate political processes, even as Member States and regional actors reinforce military and financial support to opposing sides. I fully endorse the Panel’s call for the Security Council to bring its collective political leverage to bear on behalf of political solutions.

13. Many of our missions grapple today with the consequences of political failure and the preference for quick fixes. In many cases, international efforts reproduce earlier formulas for conflict resolution: disarmament, elections, infrastructure and institutions, which are critical for a country’s recovery, as seen in Guinea-Bissau and Liberia. However, they must be built on political foundations and result in mechanisms that can accommodate diversity and differences. Technical interventions alone cannot replace the difficult task of assisting parties in finding political solutions.

14. The Panel’s call to place the search for political solutions at the heart of United Nations peace operations means that our engagement must be designed and implemented in ways that help conflict parties to arrive at and sustain a political settlement. Where short-term prospects are limited and support from parties, particularly the host State, for a United Nations peace operation is partial or wavering, I will provide frank assessments and recommendations to the Security Council as to what peace operations can be reasonably requested to deliver and where priorities should lie.

15. Political efforts must be backed by firm resolve, including, where required, the use of force. As we learned in Côte d’Ivoire, this can be essential to deterring and responding to violence against a political process. In some cases, the Security Council may request a United Nations peace operation to undertake specific and clearly delineated enforcement tasks in support of a political settlement that has broad international and domestic backing. However, a United Nations peace operation is not designed or equipped to impose political solutions through sustained use of force. It does not pursue military victory. As the Panel rightly recognizes, United Nations peace operations are not the appropriate tool for military counter-terrorism operations. They do deploy in violent and asymmetric threat environments, however, and must be capable of operating effectively and as safely as possible therein. In situations of grave risk to civilians, peace operations must be able to respond promptly and capably. Troop and police contributors should commit

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to and be ready to meet these requirements in operations with Chapter VII mandates. They must know and be consulted from the start on what will be expected of them and the responsibilities and risks entailed.

Protection of civilians

16. I am proud of the progress that we have made in putting human rights at the centre of our peace and security efforts. They are an integral component of every United Nations peace operation and a core consideration for United Nations development and humanitarian activities. We have improved our ability to assess the potential of disputes turning violent and to draw the attention of national Governments and the Security Council to human rights violations. The success of such efforts relies on working closely with local communities and non-governmental organizations with deep knowledge of challenges and opportunities to advance people’s rights.

17. All United Nations peace operations today have the obligation to advocate the protection of civilians. This is a mission-wide task. Many non-military tools are available, including strong political advocacy, credible reporting and liaison with communities. Many missions support national authorities in carrying out their protection responsibilities, including through support to police, rule of law and security institutions and national action plans to better protect children and address sexual violence. I have directed that mission-wide strategies and coherent monitoring and reporting arrangements be put in place to reinforce the collective impact of critical protection activities.

18. Where missions have an explicit mandate to protect civilians, uniformed personnel must play their part, including, where necessary, through the use of force. This has been defined to mean preventive, pre-emptive and tactical use of force to protect civilians under threat of physical violence. The source and the nature of violence are not the determinant for action. Guns, machetes, rape, improvised explosives: these and more are used against civilians by all manner of armed actors. Missions must have the capabilities and command structures required to respond effectively, and uniformed personnel must comply with orders to prevent, deter and protect civilians against attacks.

19. Improvements made over the past 15 years to policies, rules of engagement and training are helping missions to protect civilians. However, as the Panel argued, wide and universal participation in missions is also vital to their effectiveness and credibility. Within Member States lie capabilities that can improve mission presence on the ground, risk assessments, communication, mobility and engineering. I call upon all Member States to contribute to peace operations by providing practical and political support.

20. I reaffirm my commitment to informing the Security Council of situations of escalating risk to civilians or serious shortfalls in the capability of missions to fulfil protection mandates. I stand ready to provide regular briefings to the Council on high-risk situations. I will investigate and inform the Council and Member States of any incident in which a mission, military unit or police contingent fails to act. In turn, I call upon the Council to respond actively and consistently to my requests for political and operational support, particularly in contexts where State parties are involved in attacks against civilians.

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Tailored and appropriate responses

21. Peace operations offer a unique platform to draw together a wide range of United Nations capacities, serve as catalysts for bilateral and non -governmental attention and facilitate actions by United Nations and non-United Nations partners. This may be their greatest potential to address today’s complex crises, but we are failing to fully realize it.

22. One reason is our well-meaning attempt to neatly characterize conflicts and develop specific tools for each. However, conflicts rarely comply with categories. Violence erupts and subsides, stalemates persist for years, and lapses and relapses occur. Rebel groups may use terrorist tactics;; national forces may prey on the populations that they exist to protect. An effective peace operation must be able to look ahead and constantly adjust its response using all United Nations instruments.

23. Similarly, we continue to frame mission mandates and postures in national terms, when the transnational nature of today’s conflicts threatens entire regions. Transforming peace operations into instruments that can address the regional dimensions of conflict requires a change in mindset across the Organization.

24. Today, as the Panel notes, more than half of United Nations Secretariat staff work in field operations, yet our administrative and financial policies and procedures, as well as intergovernmental processes, are not systematically configured to support dynamic field environments. As Secretary -General, I have tackled that disconnect. The establishment of the Department of Field Support was designed to accelerate our ability to deliver rapidly and effectively. That work needs to be completed. With the support of Member States, much can be done to design more appropriate responses, accelerate deployment, better prepare our personnel, adapt support to field conditions and needs and empower missions to make operational decisions in a timely manner.

25. A number of initiatives are under way to help to improve the global management of the Organization, including Umoja, the introduction of a career development and mobility framework and forthcoming proposals for a global service delivery model. I am committed to ensuring that those initiatives meet field needs. In the following section, I set out additional steps to better craft and tailor United Nations peace operations.

Accountability

26. A United Nations peace operation must reflect the values that it promotes. If we are not capable of interacting with our hosts, their cit izens and their resources with respect, our actions will have little consequence. Strong leadership and accountability are essential. As the Panel emphasizes, a single act of misconduct can undermine the support of local populations and sully the international reputation of the United Nations. It is essential that United Nations personnel, both civilian and military, conduct themselves in a manner consistent with our values. The human rights record and performance of contributing countries is an integral part of this.

27. Sexual exploitation and abuse by a small minority of United Nations personnel continues to shame our Organization. Such abuse scars the lives of men, women and children. It is one of my greatest disappointments. I will continue to do everyt hing within my authority to stamp out this scourge, and I set out below the additional steps that I am taking to do so. Member States must also assume their

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responsibilities. The Security Council must signal the importance that it assigns to high standards of accountability, and contributors must ensure that allegations of misconduct are investigated promptly and criminal accountability is enforced.

Global-regional partnerships

28. The Panel’s call for stronger global-regional partnerships is central to effective international peace and security engagements. Chapter VIII of the Charter provides the foundation, but its operationalization depends on our collective will and ability to put in place predictable and efficient responses from diverse partners. We have made significant progress over the past 15 years: cooperation frameworks have been instituted between the United Nations and the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the League of Arab States, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of American States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and regular secretariat-to-secretariat dialogue is held with a similar set of partners.

29. The structures, mandates and operations of our regional partners vary widely. Our interests and approaches sometimes differ. Our roles also vary. Sometimes the United Nations is called to convene and lead a peace and security response. Other times, it supports and enables the actions of others. A pragmatic and case -by-case approach is needed, starting with early communication and procedures for crisis consultation.

30. We also need to move away from improvisation in how we work together. Political strategies are left unaddressed at times or not pursued and coordinated consistently. People, troops, police, equipment and capabilities and support cooperation are generated and negotiated anew by each organization. We must build on our experience to establish standing arrangements and procedures that can be applied flexibly when operations are sequenced or parallel and support collaboration when the United Nations and regional organizations engage in the same mediation processes.

31. In situations of major conflict and mass violations of human rights, as the Panel notes, national, multinational and regional responses are often faster to deploy and more capable of combating well-equipped and determined belligerents. I welcome African Union efforts to fully operationalize the African Standby Force and the commitment by the European Union to engaging European Union Battlegroups, where appropriate, for crisis management. I intend to explore with those key partners how said capacities may serve as bridging forces pending the mobilization and deployment of a United Nations mission.

32. The international peace and security responsibilities shouldered by the African Union and regional economic communities and regional mechanisms in Africa have grown enormously in recent years. They represent a significant human and financial burden for African countries. We need to look for ways to share that burden. I am committed to strengthening arrangements that enable effective delivery by the African Union for our collective benefit and, where United Nations peace operations deploy alongside or after African Union missions, to reinforcing the political and operational benefits of cooperation.

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Renewed focus on prevention and mediation

33. Ultimately, we cannot respond to the number and intensity of today’s crises by focusing only on conflict management. Prevention and mediation must return to the fore, a point also made by the Panel. The strengthening of United Nations prevention and mediation efforts, including envoys, regional offices, standing Headquarters capacity for good offices, standby mediation experts and support to United Nations country teams, has been one of my priorities. Mediation support capacity, for example, enabled more than 100 mediation advisers to deploy in 2014 in order to assist United Nations efforts or those of our partners to find political solutions.

34. At the rhetorical level, there is strong support for early warning and conflict prevention. However, this is not always translated into early action. Member States, which have the primary responsibility for preventing conflict, are often reluctant to attract a global spotlight on disputes at home and in their neighbourhood. The Security Council has at times been hesitant to consider crises at an early st age. The good offices of the Secretary-General have proven to be a powerful preventive tool. However, even discreet engagement, through dialogue and facilitation, human rights monitoring, expert teams and capacity-building, requires political support to be effective. When we engage too late or with insufficient support, our tools may no longer be sufficient to prevent violence, and they are then wrongly blamed for failing.

35. It is time to fulfil our commitment to prevention as the core function of the Organization. Strong Member State political support for United Nations prevention and mediation efforts can send a powerful signal that the global system is intent on reducing armed conflict. It can build confidence in the capacity of international organizations to advance peace. I set out below concrete steps that I believe are essential to expanding the range of United Nations capacities to tackle crises before they become conflicts that we struggle to resolve.

IV. Implementing our priorities: an agenda for action

36. The present section sets out a near-term agenda to make United Nations peace operations fit for purpose, which I am acutely aware will extend beyond my tenure. I focus on steps that are being or can be taken forward in 2016, while offering thoughts on those actions to be considered by my successor and Member States.

A. Strengthening the range of United Nations responses: capacities for conflict prevention and mediation

37. Strengthening United Nations tools to prevent and mediate crises is helping to create faster and more cost-effective responses to conflict, yet successful early action, such as in Guinea, has failed to ignite political urgency for prevention. It is time we invest in making our tools more predictable and effective. I fu lly endorse the Panel’s call for a significant strengthening of and more reliable resourcing through the regular budget for the Secretariat’s core prevention and mediation capacities.

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38. One of the most powerful prevention tools is the Security Council’s early engagement. Where united and resolute, the Council can bring important political and other resources to bear on a deteriorating situation. I will continue to explore different ways to bring the Council’s attention to such situations, including informal briefings and discussions and continued use of the “any other business” agenda item in informal consultations. In other contexts, however, discreet approaches stand a greater chance of success. I will elaborate further on those in my forthcoming report to the Council on conflict prevention.

Regional offices

39. Regional offices have become one of the most effective operational tools of the United Nations in helping to defuse tensions and supporting national actors in reaching political settlements. As the recent engagement of the United Nations Office for West Africa in Burkina Faso, in partnership with the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, demonstrates, they work with national actors, United Nations country teams, missions and regional partners to act early in a crisis and put in place joined-up responses. In West and Central Africa, as well as in Central Asia, they also contribute to developing collective responses to a range of longer-term transnational challenges, from organized crime to managing scarce natural resources. In addition, such offices are cost -effective: their annual budgets range from $3 million to $10 million.

40. Given the unique role that regional offices play, I strongly support the Panel’s call for the establishment of additional such offices where they might be of benefit. I am exploring with regional and national partners in North Africa and West Asia, as well as in Southern Africa, the establishment of such offices in those regions. As a crucial operational arm of the Organization’s core prevention mandate, regional offices should be resourced accordingly.

Strengthening preventive capacities of United Nations country teams

41. United Nations development actors play a critical role in drawing the attention of the United Nations to a deteriorating situation. They are often the first to face a burgeoning political crisis, and they support national counterparts in identifying risks to development and develop strategies to address them. In recent year s we have made good progress in reinforcing their capacity, including through the deployment of peace and development advisers, human rights advisers and mediation expertise. We have also reinforced the capacities of resident coordinators in such situations.

42. The adoption of the sustainable development goals, notably goal 16, on peaceful and inclusive societies, offers a tremendous opportunity to strengthen collaboration between development and peace and security actors. In my capacity as Chair of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, I intend to engage leaders of the United Nations system organizations at upcoming Board sessions on how the United Nations system can be brought together to strengthen preventive and peacebuilding work. I have also requested the United Nations Development Group to take forward a review of current capacities of agencies, funds and programmes, which will feed into those and subsequent discussions.

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Human Rights Up Front

43. My Human Rights Up Front initiative is another step to prioritize and reinforce system-wide prevention efforts. It seeks to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations system to identify earlier signs of serious human rights abuses and potential conflict and enable proactive and more effective responses that draw on all United Nations tools. I am pleased at the Panel’s strong endorsement of the initiative and will continue to strengthen it, including by institutionalizing regular reviews of high-risk situations by senior managers. Such reviews will ensure that United Nations action in the field is early, informed and driven by human rights priorities.

Early action through “light teams”

44. In situations of crisis or mission transition or when the United Nations in-country representative and presence require enhanced support, “light teams” of experts can help to bring together United Nations development, human rights and peace and security activities to craft a tailored approach to a specific situation. Operating under my good offices, these small, flexible and time-limited teams can deploy early and at low cost to work discreetly, under or in close consultation with resident coordinators, as appropriate, and national authorities to assess the situation, support national processes and facilitate engagement with partners. I appreciate the Panel’s endorsement of this important concept and will continue to make use of it when appropriate.

B. Reinforced global-regional partnerships

45. The establishment of effective global-regional partnerships will be a critical undertaking for Member States, regional partners and the United Nations in coming years. My report concerning cooperation between the United Nations and regional partners on mediation (A/70/328) reflects our experiences to date and how we can strengthen collective efforts.

46. Over the next year I intend to further institutionalize cooperation with those regional partners with which we work particularly closely, so as to enable consultation, common early warning and conflict analysis, and coordinated responses to the specific dynamics and needs of each region. With the European Union, we will fully implement agreed priorities to further strengthen our strong strategic partnership for 2015-2018. I share the Panel’s view that United Nations cooperation with the League of Arab States should be further strengthened, and our two secretariats are exploring the potential deployment of a small United Nations liaison presence.

The African Union as a key partner

47. With most United Nations peace operations in Africa, significant African Union peace operations under way and common mediation efforts across the continent, the African Union is the key regional partner of the United Nations. Our cooperation is underpinned by principles that apply to other regional partners, including consultative decision-making and appropriate common strategies for an integrated response to conflict, based on respective comparative advantage, transparency, accountability and respect for international norms and standards. The

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United Nations Secretariat and the African Union Commission are taking steps to finalize, in 2016, a Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, which will provide a blueprint for early and continuous engagement between our organizations before, during and after conflict and with a view to finding political solutions to the crises that we face. Principles o f the Framework underpin the work of the United Nations Office to the African Union and the Peace and Security Department of the African Union, and the Framework has demonstrated the value of collaborative approaches.

48. If the United Nations is to fulfil its commitment to partnership with the African Union, we need to optimize the full range of potential support modalities, which may include a combination of voluntary, assessed and bilateral support. I concur with the Panel’s call for sustained, predictable and flexible funding mechanisms to support African Union peace operations. In that regard, I commend the African Union’s commitment to self-reliance, including to financing 25 per cent of future African Union peace operations. I urge Member States to give urgent consideration to how the United Nations can respond to that initiative. In support thereof, and further to my letter dated 2 January 2015 to the President of the Council (S/2015/3), I have requested the Secretariat to carry out, jointly with the African Union and in consultation with other partners, a review and assessment of various mechanisms currently available to finance and support African Union peace operations authorized by the Council. The review will be informed by the results of the recent strategic review of the United Nations Support Office for the African Union Mission in Somalia.

49. I recognize, as does the African Union, that any financing provided by the United Nations will depend on institutional capability to effectively plan, deploy and conduct peace operations and will be contingent on compliance with United Nations norms, standards and financial rules and regulations. Recent reform and restructuring initiatives of the African Union Commission are laying the foundations for more effective institutional processes. We are supporting a major effort by the Commission to identify an effective mission support concept for the African Union and the capacities needed to implement it. As part of that, we are exploring how the African Union could gain access to United Nations system contracts. In the meantime, we will ensure that the strategic deployment stocks of the United Nations remain available as a mechanism to provide the African Union with r eady access to the goods and services required to establish and maintain its operations.

50. The United Nations will continue to provide technical and planning expertise to assist the African Union in conflict prevention, mediation, military and police planning, financial and logistics management, security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and mine action. We will also continue to support the African Union’s commitment to integrating human rights in its operations and to ensure that international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law standards are adhered to by forces deployed by the African Union so as to facilitate United Nations support in line with the human rights due diligence policy on United Nations support to non-United Nations security forces. Specific areas of work that we have agreed to support include predeployment training, monitoring and oversight mechanisms and screening of personnel.

51. I fully anticipate that United Nations and African Union peace operations will continue to deploy in sequence or in parallel in coming years. It is incumbent upon

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us to institutionalize consultative processes and, where appropriate, joint mechanisms. We have agreed to develop, by early 2016, a shared vision for benchmarks to guide transitions from African Union to United Nations operations, drawing on lessons from the Central African Republic, Mali and Somalia. We have also agreed to initiate joint work on standardizing the process of rehatting uniformed personnel from African Union to United Nations operations, which will address, inter alia, training, equipment, sustainment and performance standards, conduct and accountability, and logistics support requirements.

C. Tailored peace operations

52. The demands, impact and cost of today’s peace operations require comprehensive strengthening of the ways in which we plan and conduct operations. The call for tailored peace operations that can respond effectively across the lifetime of a conflict is one of the Panel’s recommendations that I will prioritize.

Analysis and planning

53. I fully endorse the Panel’s view, echoed by the Advisory Group of Experts on the Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture, that conflict analysis should systematically include considerations of human rights and threats to civilians, as well as the political, security, social, economic, gender and regional dimensions of a conflict. To that end, over the next six months, existing conflict analysis methodologies will be revised and new guidelines issued to enable systematic application of joined-up conflict analysis, as well as to strengthen and institutionalize the system-wide analysis and response mechanisms — the regional quarterly review and the Senior Action Group — set up under my Human Rights Up Front initiative.

54. The United Nations has a system-wide policy on integrated assessment and planning that provides a good basis for planning in contexts of peace operations. It needs to be consistently implemented and continually refined. As recommended by the Panel, and to support a strategic and coherent approach to United Nations conflict response from the earliest stage, I am establishing a small centralized analysis and planning capacity in my office within existing resources. That entity will draw on and compile information and analysis across the system to prepare strategic considerations and options for possible United Nations responses. It will translate my guidance into strategic directives that set out overall parameters for potential United Nations engagement, trigger strategic assessments where required and designate roles and responsibilities, including the lead department. The small capacity will also serve to ensure that integrated planning complies with my strategic directives and relevant planning policies across an operation’s lifetime.

55. Lead departments are responsible for taking forward integrated strategic assessments and planning processes. An empowered planner, working from the lead department and with planners across the system, will develop coherent and prioritized strategic plans. The Secretariat is compiling a list of senior planners, drawing on capacities within and outside the system. I also agree with the Panel’s recommendation to transfer responsibility for operational mission planning, as soon as feasible, to the field. Missions will be responsible for the preparation of mission and component operational plans that are coherent, interoperable and tailored to

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their operating environment. Lead departments at Headquarters will be responsible for review and approval, after assessing whether operational plans reflect strategic planning directives, are joined-up and reflect available resources. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support have already begun to jointly approve military, police and support concepts.

56. Effective planning also requires capable and multidisciplinary planners. I am committed to enhancing training in conflict analysis and assessments, as well as strategic and operational planning, so that United Nations personnel are equipped to work capably together. I call upon Member States to support those efforts.

Sequenced mandates

57. Quality analysis allows me to provide the Council with frank and well -considered advice that it needs in assessing options to respond to crisis. The decision to launch a peace operation, therefore, must be made in the context of sustained dialogue on emerging priorities and how the United Nations can address them. I support the Panel’s suggestion that the Council consider how it can better prioritize and sequence tasks that it sets for peace operations. Some recent Council mandates have taken welcome steps in that direction.

58. On the basis of clear political objectives, the Council may decide to establish an initial mandate and request me to return after a defined period with more comprehensive proposals for prioritized mission tasks, including assessment of the military, police, substantive and support capabilities required for implementation and options for rapid generation and deployment.

59. Where a significant presence is immediately required, for example in situations characterized by urgent protection needs, the Council may initially restrict the mandate to political, security and protection tasks, with the understanding that any further tasks are contingent on progress on the most immediate threats to civilians. In such cases, my reports would include a regular assessment of the mission’s political and protection effect, the extent to which the mission has the capabilities to fulfil its protection mandate and the additional political and practical support required. Such reports would also track progress towards a political process and identify options for changes to the mission’s strategy and mandate where progress is not forthcoming. When political openings occur, I would identify priority actions that a mission can take to support and advance them.

60. A benefit of sequenced approaches, in addition to better use of limited resources and better risk management, is that they enable United Nations peace operations to consult early with national and regional stakeholders in the design and delivery of mandated tasks. Sequencing also allows the Council greater potential to engage host States and regional partners on expectations and commitments. I welcome an early opportunity to discuss such options with the Council.

Dialogue between the Security Council, the Secretariat and troop and police contributors

61. Sustained dialogue between the Council, the Secretariat and contributors is essential for shared understanding of appropriate responses and their implications for the mandate and conduct of a peace operation. That dialogue should begin before the mission is established. One option that could be considered is for the

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Secretariat to brief potential contributors together with Council members on its assessment of a conflict before an operation is authorized. This could serve to alert potential contributors and allow them to consider what capabilities might be required. It would also give the Council an opportunity to obtain insights on the challenges and opportunities involved in mandating certain tasks and in generating the required capabilities under specific time frames.

62. As the Council moves closer to authorizing or changing the mandate of an operation, a subsequent set of triangular consultations could be held to ensure clarity on planned priorities, operational implications and required capabilities. Such discussions would accompany ongoing memorandum of understanding negotiations between individual contributors and the Secretariat. To ensure full clarity on our mutual commitments, I have instructed the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support to include in each memorandum of understanding the relevant statement of unit requirements, which details the capabilities and standards to be provided and tasks to be undertaken.

63. Once the mandate of a peace operation is established, the Secretariat will regularly brief contributors and seek their views in assessing progress. It is incumbent upon us to immediately explain any changes or requirements that have implications for troops and police.

Engaging on national priorities and building support for action

64. Consent of national authorities is the basis for United Nations engagement in a country. I intend to explore with relevant host Governments the establishment of compacts as a way to ensure understanding of our mandates and status -of-mission agreements and, as appropriate, support coordinated international engagement. However, the support of local populations is essential for effective action. United Nations peace operations must foster public support immediately on deployment, and strategic communication and community engagement are essential. Where security conditions permit, peace operations will recruit national staff and community liaison officers, particularly women, from the outset. Public opinion surveys undertaken by many peace operations are a valuable means of regularly assessing progress and evolving community priorities. I have instructed that they be conducted regularly.

Delivering coherent responses

65. Once Security Council and national priorities are defined, my priority is the delivery of coherent United Nations responses. Integrated approaches allow us to create new ways of working together and enable specialist support to be provided from across the system. They are potentially more cost-effective where participating mission components and agencies co-locate staff, share services and put in place cost-sharing arrangements. I intend to accelerate the establishment of platforms for coordinated work in cross-cutting areas. The Global Focal Point for the Police, Justice and Corrections brings together the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the United Nations Development Programme, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and others to provide joint support in the areas of the rule of law and human rights in 19 countries with peace operations, as well as in other conflict and post-conflict settings. I intend to enhance

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that arrangement by strengthening its capacity for joint programme design and implementation.

66. Protection functions will also benefit from a more coherent framework of support to deliver greater impact. Beginning with careful and considered outreach to communities at the local level and extending to strong mission information management that informs action and feeds into protection responses, and reporting to the Council, a shared platform will strengthen response, monitoring and the coherence of multiple reporting functions, including for children and armed conflict and conflict-related sexual violence. Going forward, all peace operations with a protection of civilians mandate should have a senior protection of civilians advis er, located in the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary -General, to coordinate the development of mission-wide strategies and guidance for all components, in liaison with relevant protection actors, including the humanitarian protection cluster. With due consideration for the requirements of flexibility to respond to differing contexts, a dedicated capacity for specialized protection functions relating to child protection and conflict-related sexual violence will be consolidated within mission human rights components. The head of the component will be responsible, through the head of mission, for the implementation of those specialized mandates and ensure that the Special Representatives of the Secretary -General for Children and Armed Conflict and on Sexual Violence in Conflict have the engagement, information and support required for the delivery of their respective mandates.

67. Coherent mechanisms to support women’s full participation in peace and security are vital. Building on the successful pilot in Haiti, I have decided to henceforth request that the Senior Gender Adviser of United Nations peace operations be located in the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary -General, supported by gender expertise embedded in functional mission components. I am pleased that UN-Women, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs are putting in place arrangements to strengthen the provision of substantive and technical support to missions and to make full use of respective comparative advantages. My forthcoming report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) details collective efforts to advance the women and peace and security agenda.

68. Jobs and livelihoods are another key concern for communities and one in which United Nations agencies and others have comparative advantages. Collaboration between the United Nations and the World Bank has been increasing, and the two organizations have a shared set of partnership objectives. To strengthen cooperation across security and justice sectors, core government functions and employment, I have instructed my senior management to propose a mechanism that brings together the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and key regional banks to engage coherently in crisis countries.

69. I welcome the call by both the Panel and the Advisory Group of Experts to address shortfalls in financing the different activities needed to achieve and sustain peace. Efforts to deliver programmes demanded more frequently by Security Council mandates have been limited to an extension of the traditional resourcing model. Nevertheless, constructive options to apply available resources in enlisting partners to support mandate delivery exist. In that context, I am taking steps to ensure that forthcoming mission budget requests include the full range of resources

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required to implement mandates and that missions closely coordinate with the United Nations country teams in that work. We also need to look at how pooled country-level funds can support the delivery of coordinated support in cross -cutting areas and help to manage often volatile aid allocations.

70. My Peacebuilding Fund has become a proven instrument to assist with rapid, coherent and risk-tolerant funding that yields impact in sensitive political environments. It urgently needs additional resources to continue operations at the current level of $100 million per year. Going forward, I will actively explore, in close consultation with Member States and through appropriate intergovernmental bodies, options to provide predictable resources for the Fund. I intend to bring persistent financing gaps to the attention of the Council and the Peacebuilding Commission.

Assessing impact and transitioning

71. Regular assessment of mission progress enables operations to adapt their responses to a fast-evolving environment. While significant steps have been taken to establish integrated field assessments, the tools required to do so remain incomplete. Progress is often as complex to measure as it is to obtain. Better impact assessment could facilitate realistic benchmarks for missions, and a more results -focused formulation of budgets could better inform regular assessment and resource management.

72. Periodic independent evaluations could complement a more impact -focused approach. I am mindful that a myriad of routine and ad hoc assessments are undertaken by multiple Headquarters entities. I have instructed the streamlining of reviews to permit more systematic independent evaluations and will provide details in my forthcoming report on the overview of the financing of peacekeeping operations.

73. Ongoing analysis and impact measurement are equally essential to the successful transition of peace operations. They must be undertaken with national and United Nations partners that may take on and advance work initially carried out by peace operations. They should incorporate the assessment of capacities and resources of those actors. Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti and Liberia will be early cases for that approach, building on effective transitions in Sierra Leone and Timor -Leste. Sustained political engagement after transitions is also essential. The Peacebuilding Commission, as well as regional organizations and regional offices, holds significant potential and can play a valuable role in that regard.

Financing and structures

74. Some of the existing financing arrangements applicable to the Secretariat are an obstacle to tailored peace operations and present challenges and cost inefficiencies with regard to efforts to draw on all tools available to the Organization. My report on the review of arrangements for funding and backstopping special political missions (A/66/340), which remains before the General Assembly for its consideration, presents options that address many of the obstacles to tailored peace operations. I support the Panel’s call to Member States to take immediate action on this critical issue. A tailored and coherent approach to peace operations will also require overcoming current hurdles to providing specialist support to field missions, whether human rights, mediation or electoral

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assistance to peacekeeping missions and military advice or rule of law support t o special political missions.

75. As the Panel observes, the structure of the Secretariat may itself also present a challenge to a more coherent approach. Structures, in and of themselves, will not solve problems of coherence, speed and efficiency, but they can help to reduce inefficiency and support cooperation in planning and deploying peace operations. The Panel’s recommendation to restructure the Secretariat’s peace and security architecture will require a more comprehensive consideration that I will encourage my successor to undertake. Secretariat restructuring will be a necessary but insufficient condition to realize a tailored approach to peace operations and better calibrated responses to conflict.

D. Agile field support

Empowering the field

76. Tailored peace operations will remain an elusive goal unless we change the way in which we support missions. The current administrative framework for peace operations is often slow, cumbersome and averse to risk. The average length of time to recruit and deploy rostered civilian staff to a peace operation is 180 days, 120 of which are required to complete reference checks, medical clearance and travel to the duty station. At least 20 distinct steps are involved in engaging and deploying uniformed personnel, requiring the coordination of four different divisions within three separate departments. Current processes, when applied to volatile, poorly resourced and often remote environments, are proving ineffective. A collective change of culture, policies and approaches is needed.

77. We must look to best global practice in the administration of field -based organizations. That approach, practiced in most of our countries, is directed at aligning authorities and accountability with responsibilities. I intend to further empower field missions so that they can carry out their responsibilities and utilize resources effectively and accountably.

78. All United Nations managers must demonstrate responsible stewardship of funds and resources entrusted to the Organization. Increased authority of field managers will be accompanied, therefore, by strong efforts to strengthen mission management capabilities. I will hold managers accountable and will establish clear chains of command and guidance on the exercise of authorit ies. Accountability arrangements will include clear reporting requirements, efficient monitoring and support, and regular assessment of performance, as well as corrective action to support enhanced authority and decision-making responsibilities.

79. A tailored peace operation requires a dynamic workforce that can be adapted and resized to meet specific needs at any given time. The Organization should be able to quickly recruit and deploy qualified individuals under the most appropriate contractual modalities, discipline them for cause and terminate them if they are no longer required for the mandate or context. This is not possible under current arrangements. The recruitment of National Professional Officers is subject to the same criteria as that of international staff even in countries emerging from prolonged conflict, where conditions have not allowed them to meet those criteria. I intend to complete a review of the key processes that may not be supportive of our

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field operations by September 2016 and have requested a broader review of Secretariat policies and procedures, to be completed by September 2017.

80. I am committed to ensuring that field perspectives and needs are reflected in administrative policies and procedures. To that end, I am instituting formalized internal consultative mechanisms and representative field participation to ensure that policies and procedures are applicable to all Secretariat staff, including those working in the field, and that, where required, relevant field -specific arrangements are established.

Standing administrative measures for start-ups and emergencies

81. I am putting in place, by the end of 2015, standing administrative measures for start-up and crisis situations to go into effect for six months on a renewable basis upon the establishment of a peace operation or my certification of a crisis or emergency. Those measures include some exceptional measures approved in such situations as the Ebola crisis response, the Haiti earthquake of 2010 and more recent mission start-ups. Other obstacles to rapid and predictable response, such as the three-month limit on temporary duty assignments of personnel from Headquarters, were established through decisions of the General Assembly. As those impediments constrain the effective use of United Nations personnel surge support, I intend to present proposals to the Assembly in the context of my forthcoming report on the overview of the financing of peacekeeping operations.

Rapidly deployable headquarters

82. The Department of Field Support and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations will finalize, by early 2016, a concept and standard operating procedures for a rapidly deployable integrated civilian, military and police headquarters capacity that can be fully functional within 8 to 12 weeks of the issuance of a mandate. This will build on prior efforts, including by incorporating standardized designs, the use of strategic deployment stocks and modular solutions, standard operating procedures to facilitate the fast-track deployment of civilian, military and police personnel, and standby arrangements for the construction and sustainment of integrated headquarters and other mission components.

Specialized support packages

83. Force and police generation will remain the main vehicle to generate uniformed capabilities for peace operations. However, in start -up or emergency situations or when there are particularly challenging environments to navigate, a broader range of support options will need consideration. Logistics capabilitie s located elsewhere in the system, such as in the United Nations Office for Project Services, can provide important enablers, and I will continue to draw on established arrangements that provide for their rapid engagement.

84. I will also invite regional partners and Member States that have capabilities in key enabling areas to propose and provide specialist support packages to address specific substantive and support needs, particularly for short -duration tasks to address urgent field requirements or temporary gaps. They include engineering capabilities for infrastructure construction;; immediate medical facilities and medical evacuation solutions;; and strategic airlift support.

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E. Speed, capabilities and performance of uniformed capabilities

85. The timely deployment and the effective performance of uniformed capabilities are where partnership between troop and police contributors and the Secretariat stands or fails. To improve the consistency and coordination of capability development initiatives, I intend to establish, with interested Member States, a single capability and performance framework for uniformed personnel. The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations has a unique contribution to make to that work.

Rapid deployment of uniformed capabilities

86. The Panel made a number of important recommendations to accelerate military and police deployment to peace operations, all of which I am pursuing. A small Strategic Force Generation and Capability Planning Cell has been established, through extrabudgetary resources, to engage current and potential troop and police contributors on a more timely and sustained basis on required capabilities, including female personnel. The Cell also manages the new Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System, which replaced the previous Standby Arrangements System. I will propose the institutionalization of that important function in my forthcoming request under the support account for peacekeeping operations.

87. The case for rapidly available capacity is incontestable. The political commitment and financial incentives to realize it, however, have been decades -long obstacles. Building on past experience, I am establishing three complementary rapidly deployable capacities that, with Member State support, can provide the basis for timely response when needed. All will draw on the integrated mission headquarters noted above. First, the Secretariat is developing requirements for standby units for a range of capabilities and will invite Member States and regional organizations to establish arrangements that could enable those capabilities to be drawn on under defined conditions and during defined time periods. Those standby capabilities will become part of the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System and provide the backbone to early deployment.

88. Second, I will continue to explore arrangements for the rapid and time -bound transfer of assets and capabilities from existing missions to meet crises or start -up needs. While such inter-mission cooperation arrangements are not a substitute for properly resourced missions, they provide the means to respond quickly to changing circumstances, as during the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire in 2011 and the elections in Liberia. The quick reaction force subsequently deployed in the United Nat ions Operation in Côte d’Ivoire has significant potential to support nearby peace operations. I intend to build on that innovation and explore similar capacities in other regions, where authorized by the Council.

89. Third, pre-established arrangements between Member States, regional organizations and the Secretariat for strategic deployment capacity and the provision of key enablers are an emerging means of assisting faster deployment to start-up or crisis situations. We will continue to engage interested and capable Member States for the provision of national enabling capabilities through stand -alone agreements and the Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System.

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90. A longer-term option is the small United Nations “vanguard capability” for mission start-ups or reinforcement, as proposed by the Panel, an intriguing concept to establish standby regional strategic reserve contingents that could deploy from a regional hub and be self-sustaining for up to 180 days. I have instructed the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support to explore the concept further for discussion with Member States.

Uniformed capability development and performance

91. High-tempo environments call for a broader range of capabilities, including specialist functions, and a high degree of operational readiness. In asking contributors to do more, the Security Council and the Secretariat must also do more to support contributors in meeting capability and performance requirements.

92. Progress has been made, in cooperation with Member States, in establishing clear military unit standards and capabilities for most types of military units. Increasingly customized and precise unit requirements are being detailed for each peace operation. Such steps are facilitating triangular capacity-building initiatives between the Secretariat, troop contributors and countries with specific specialist capabilities. I welcome such initiatives and invite other Member States with the requisite skills and capacity to support similar developments of other specialist enabling capabilities, such as medical and signals units.

93. Development of police capabilities requires a similar concerted effort. The central pillars of the police strategic guidance framework will be in place by the end of 2015 and will provide a sound basis for cooperation between Member States and the Secretariat on the articulation of standards, tasks and training requirements of formed police units, specialized teams and individual police officers. Guidance and new modalities for planning and recruitment will be critical to improving coherence and interoperability. To support that effort, I have instructed the Police Division to undertake an external review of functions, structure and capacity and to present the results in my forthcoming report on United Nations policing.

94. New capabilities will continue to be required for United Nations peace operations. An effective system for the acquisition, analysis and operationalization of information for peace operations in complex environments is lacking. I have tasked the Secretariat with developing parameters for an information and intelligence framework that can support field missions in operating effectively and safely. I welcome further discussions with Member States on that urgent capability gap.

95. We must continue to work together to respond to the need for greater mobility in field operations. Operational effectiveness in high -tempo contexts, including the ability to protect civilians, requires proactive and forward -leaning postures, as well as flexible support mechanisms. I have directed the Secretariat to undertake a comprehensive review of issues related to in-mission mobility, as well as command and control of military enabling assets, by the second quarter of 2016.

96. The Department of Field Support and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations will consult with Member States to propose revisions of accommodation definitions and standards to focus on the provision of high -quality adaptable solutions that ensure acceptable living conditions for short- and long-term deployments while providing the mobility necessary to adapt to dynamic mission

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requirements, in advance of the meeting of the Working Group on Reimbursement of Contingent-Owned Equipment to be held in 2017.

97. All of the steps above are intended to ensure effective performance in the field, whose measurement requires clear performance standards. Building on the recent development of an operational readiness assurance framework, the proposed capability and performance framework should take forward their development. While predeployment preparations, supported by Secretariat visits, remain critical to ensuring operational readiness, regular assessments of units and equipment should also be conducted in missions. Such assessments would allow early identification of deficiencies, including as a result of operating in austere environments, enable contributors to be alerted and quickly address problems, and ensure that contingents receive the support or remedial training required. The critical role of the Office for the Peacekeeping Strategic Partnership in supporting field performance should be reinforced.

98. Every contributor must communicate, during negotiations over possible deployment, national caveats regarding the use of military or police contingents. The decision process in selecting forces for peace operations will take those caveats into account, including whether to proceed with deployment. Additional caveats beyond those explicitly agreed by the Secretariat cannot be accepted after deployment. I have instructed all missions to communicate to Headquarters any incidents of refusal to follow orders given by the Force Commander or the Police Commissioner, whether on grounds of new national caveats or others. The Secretariat will immediately inform the concerned Member State and, on a regular basis, the Security Council and, where no remedial action is forthcoming, will repatriate the unit concerned.

Training

99. The complexities of today’s operations require a collective effort to enhance the training of uniformed personnel for United Nations peace operations. The limited time available for predeployment training must be maximized to increase readiness and familiarity with United Nations standards and requirements. I am taking forward three interlinked initiatives to enhance predeployment training, set out below, and encourage Member States to support them.

100. First, as from January 2016, I will request Member States to provide certification for all uniformed personnel who have completed United Nations-specified predeployment training as part of force and police generation processes. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support are strengthening their mobile training teams to provide targeted support to interested Member States in meeting that requirement.

101. Second, I have requested the two Departments to support the establishment of bilateral and regional training partnerships. That capacity would act as a hub to match Member States’ training capacity to needs, particularly in support of new and emerging troop and police contributors.

102. Third, I intend to establish a pilot train-the-trainer centre, supported by voluntary contributions, for uniformed personnel. The centre will reinforce the role of the United Nations in setting training standards and allow for earlier and more

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consistent engagement with Member States in the preparation of uniformed personnel.

F. Safety and security

103. The deterioration of the global security environment has increased the complexity and the scale of security challenges for United Nations peace operati ons. The United Nations is a direct target for attack by some parties that do not view the Organization as an impartial entity or that consider its presence as an impediment to their objectives. The threat is aggravated, in certain contexts, by blurred lines between criminal and extremist groups and competition between them. Intense conflict has also increased the risk of indirect attacks against peace operations personnel. That threat environment will not improve significantly in the short term. Our focus must be on increasing the capability of the United Nations system to “stay and deliver” while ensuring the safety and security of United Nations personnel.

104. The increasing use of armoured vehicles and technology, improved communications, information gathering and analysis, training and quality medical care, as well as guard units, are some of the most effective ways to keep our personnel safe, and I will continue to pursue advances across all of those fronts.

105. To better integrate security efforts, I am taking forward the consolidation of all Secretariat security resources under the Department of Safety and Security, in line with General Assembly resolution 59/276, which will improve our ability to analyse threats and risks and deploy personnel according to field needs and priorities. Implementation of that ambitious initiative will begin early in 2016. It will be bolstered by the roll-out at the end of 2015 of a new security risk management policy and process that incorporates enhanced security threat assessment and management tools. Demand for regional analysis is being addressed through additional security analysts, the deployment of physical security specialists to regional offices, and increased surge support from Headquarters.

106. The new tools, together with enhanced implementation of the programme criticality framework, will support managers in making informed and time -sensitive decisions in high-risk environments as to which activities to undertake and how to manage risks to personnel. Gender-specific risk considerations are currently being developed to ensure that the security needs of female staff are met. A system -wide crisis management policy and department-specific operating procedures will be finalized to enable effective and coherent responses.

107. I strongly believe that the adoption of widely available and cost -effective technologies can make huge strides towards improving the safety and security of United Nations personnel and assets, as well as our capacity to protect civilians and to implement mandates effectively. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support have put in place a strategy to implement the key recommendations of the recent Expert Panel on Technology and Innovation in United Nations Peacekeeping, and I look forward to progress in that regard.

108. Information management tools to improve data collection and recording of security incidents are one example of the benefits of technology. Those tools will be fully operational in selected missions by the end of 2015 and will help in

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determining proactive security responses. They will also strengthen the Organization’s capacity to systematically follow up with host Governments on their responsibility to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of cr imes against United Nations personnel. I urge host States to cooperate in that regard. Furthermore, I have instructed the Department of Management, in coordination with the United Nations Operations and Crisis Centre and other entities, to take responsibi lity for the consolidated management of information regarding fatalities to ensure that administrative processes, including facilitating support to next of kin, are appropriately and consistently handled. The Panel has called for rates of compensation for death and disability to be given due consideration by the General Assembly, and I encourage Member States to do so.

109. Member States deploying uniformed personnel to peace operations also bear responsibility for ensuring that military and police operating in high-risk environments have the tactics, techniques and procedures necessary to do so effectively. The United Nations can and does provide on -demand specialized training and guidance, for example to manage risks of improvised explosive devices. However, it is up to Member States to ensure that blue helmets have the training required to operate in conflict, and lives are needlessly lost when that is not the case.

Medical standards and capabilities

110. Good medical and health care saves lives. Today’s peace operations urgently require medical capabilities that can meet emergency and trauma care needs. The new edition of the Medical Support Manual, which will be issued shortly, sets out revised international standards for casualty response required in all field missions. In addition, I initiated the establishment of a medical performance framework for United Nations peace operations. This will focus initially on level II hospitals, United Nations-operated level I clinics and aero-medical evacuation teams and will be progressively expanded to include all field health -care capabilities, both civilian and military. In cooperation with interested Member States, the project will define and set standards for the performance of care, the processes governing field hospitals and clinics, and ways in which emergency and trauma health care is delivered in the field. The results of the project will be fed into the meeting of the Working Group on Reimbursement of Contingent-Owned Equipment to be held in 2017.

111. I share contributors’ concerns at the challenges experienced by some missions in consistently responding to medical emergencies and in evacuating casualties. I requested the Department of Field Support, as a matter of priority, to review its aviation and casualty evacuation guidelines and internal procedures to ensure that missions can meet international standards of casualty evacuation. This will require a collective effort. Missions must improve their coordination processes and mechanisms to be able to respond quickly and predictably to casualties. Contributing countries must ensure that their troops are trained to perform emergency trauma care and that their level I clinics are capable of stabilizing casualties. Host States must support requests for medical and casualty evacuation support, including air space access. The Department is addressing, on a mission -by-mission basis, current impediments to night flight operations for purposes of casualty evacuation. In some missions, the composition of air fleets and medical

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facilities may need to be revisited to ensure that there are sufficient resources to meet emergency requirements in addition to more routine tasks.

G. Leadership and accountability

Leadership

112. I am mindful of the immense responsibility that rests on leaders of United Nations peace operations. I welcome the Panel’s emphasis on the importance of selecting the right leaders and ensuring that they have the support necessary to provide political direction and executive management of often large and complex operations.

113. I will continue to appoint mission leaders on the basis of merit and the specific requirements of each situation, which will be reflected in tailored post profiles and competencies. They will include political acumen, mediation expertise, regional knowledge, management skills and linguistic capabilities. Candidates for mission leadership positions should also be assessed for their human rights commitment. The outreach mechanisms and predictable assessment and recruitment procedures that I have introduced over the past eight years have gone some way in strengthening leadership appointments and include efforts to attract the best force commanders and police commissioners. I encourage Member States to support those efforts.

114. Improving the representation of women in senior leadership has been a long -standing priority of mine. Gender diversity in leadership teams brings important perspectives and enables missions to engage a broader section of the population. Currently 23 per cent of heads of mission and 17 per cent of deputy heads of mission are female. I encourage Member States to share profiles of qualified women candidates for consideration as part of a global response to bring women to the fore.

115. Heads of peace operations need to be assisted by leadership teams with relevant experience and skills, particularly in United Nations policies and administrative systems. Leaders need to be able to draw on and work as part of a mutually reinforcing management team that includes deputies, chiefs of staff, mission support and individual components. I recognize that establishing and maintaining leadership teams with complementary competencies is a challenge. I have instructed my staff to develop leadership team profiles and competencies to provide criteria against which the rotating recruitment and selection of individual senior managers can be considered. My special representatives will also be consulted on senior appointments to their teams.

116. The leadership of the United Nations country team is an important component of any such team. In non-mission settings, where the Resident Coordinator leads the country’s team’s approach to a crisis, it is particularly critical. I welcome the attention given by the Panel and the peacebuilding review to the importance of that post. A rigorous assessment process already exists to identify prospective resident coordinators, and I intend to further strengthen procedures to assess the ability of candidates to operate in politically sensitive and crisis environments.

117. I will strengthen comprehensive leadership training for incoming senior mission leaders using both United Nations System Staff College and Headquarters resources. A voluntary mentoring programme is currently being pi loted to provide

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follow-up support after deployment;; pending results and available resources, it could be made mandatory.

118. Performance management is another way of strengthening support provided to senior leaders. I am refining the senior manager compact for heads of mission to better reflect their multiple responsibilities, including directing mission -wide strategies and mainstreaming gender. Performance assessment tools are also being revised to ensure feedback on performance, as well as to strengthen interaction between field and Headquarters leadership. The results of such assessments will have an impact on decisions regarding appointment renewal.

Sexual exploitation and abuse

119. I have made it abundantly clear that the United Nations prohibits sexual exploitation and abuse. I am grateful for the endorsement by the General Assembly of the steps outlined in my most recent report on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (A/69/779) to further implement zero tolerance, and measures are already under way to put them in place. Most peace operations have already set up standing task forces on sexual exploitation and abuse. By the end of 2015 immediate response teams will be set up to gather and preserve evidence within 72 hours of receipt of an allegation. I have informed field operations and Member States that investigations of sexual exploitation and abuse allegations must be concluded within six months. Better follow-up and investigation requires Member State cooperation, and I urge troop -contributing countries to embed national investigation officers in their contingents.

120. I have clearly communicated my intent to impose strong sanctions against those who commit acts of misconduct and those who fail to take action against them, including mission leadership and command authorities. I have strengthened administrative sanctions against United Nations staff members found to have committed sexual exploitation and abuse, including placing them on administrative leave without pay pending completion of investigations. I have begun suspending payments where there are credible allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse implicating individual contingents or police personnel. I will repatriate contingents where there is a demonstrated pattern of abuse or non -response to allegations of misconduct and, as previously reported, consider terminating the deployment of uniformed personnel where there is a documented pattern of non -compliance with United Nations standards of conduct. I urge Member States to hold courts martial in host countries as a measure of visible accountability.

121. Detailed guidance to missions on standards and procedures for alerting United Nations Headquarters to instances of criminal misconduct by civilian, military or police personnel will be disseminated to missions early in 2016. Such cases will be referred to judicial authorities of host countries and, where relevant, the contributing country, for pursuit of criminal accountability under national law. Genuine accountability, however, rests on the cooperation of Member States. I urge Member States to demonstrate their commitment to ridding the United Nations of the scourge of sexual exploitation and abuse by concluding their discussions, pending since 2006, on a proposed international convention to ensure accountability of United Nations personnel in connection with crimes committed in peacekeeping operations. Continued failure to do so sends a terrible signal to the world.

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122. I will continue to bring public light to misconduct. I have committed to publicly disclosing the nationality of personnel contributed by Member States being investigated for sexual exploitation and abuse and, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 69/307, will consult Member States on the reporting methodology that I am putting in place for that purpose. I have requested that issues of misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse, be added to the agenda of meetings of the Council to highlight developments on sexual exploitation and abuse. I have also proposed that the issue be placed on the agenda of meetings of the Council with troop and police contributors and that the Council review follow -up action on all reported cases. I urge the Council to take those initiatives forward.

123. We must reach out to affected communities and other partners. Missions have been instructed to put in place, by the second quarter of 2016, a framework to provide community-based mechanisms where people can more readily come forward to raise complaints regarding United Nations personnel. The creation of an adequately resourced victim assistance programme is under way with the development of terms of reference for a trust fund to support awareness -raising and community outreach and support to identified providers of services to victims. I shall report on its progress in my next report on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

124. Strengthened sexual exploitation and abuse prevention requires constant awareness-raising and training. The development of a mandatory e -learning programme on sexual exploitation and abuse for all field personnel is in progress, and a pilot will be rolled out in May 2016. I am expanding the ve tting of civilian personnel to ensure that they do not have a history of sexual misconduct during prior service in the United Nations. Specific means for vetting military contingent and formed police unit personnel will be developed by the end of 2015.

125. I share the Panel’s assessment that United Nations peace operations must immediately inform relevant Governments and regional organizations of allegations of human rights violations and sexual exploitation and abuse by non -United Nations forces. I await the findings of the independent review panel on the United Nations response to allegations of sexual abuse by foreign military forces in the Central African Republic, on the basis of which I will establish procedures for external engagement with parallel presences and a dedicated system-wide lead to drive forward zero tolerance.

Human rights standards

126. Since 2011, policies that require human rights screening of all United Nations civilian and uniformed personnel, as well as human rights due diligence for the provision of United Nations operational or training support to non -United Nations security forces, have been in place. I have tasked relevant United Nations entities with ensuring the systematic application of those policies. I call upon Member States to ensure the nomination and deployment of military and police personnel who meet United Nations standards as part of force generation and rehatting processes. I also call upon Member States, when their security forces receive United Nations operational or training support, to provide up-to-date relevant information to inform United Nations risk assessments under the due diligence policy.

127. State parties repeatedly listed in my annual reports on children and armed conflict and on conflict-related sexual violence will henceforth not be accepted for

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participation in United Nations peace operations. I have requested those troop and police contributors that are currently listed to engage with my respective Special Representatives in order to be delisted, by making and implementing specific time -bound commitments and concrete action plans to address violations for which they are listed. Failure to cease systematic violations and implement action plans expeditiously will result in their suspension from peace operations.

Environmental awareness

128. The environment has been one of my priorities as Secretary-General, and I am fully committed to ensuring that United Nations peace operations are a sustainable presence. A review of my 2009 environmental policy for United Nations field missions will be completed early in 2016 and will include measures to improve the health and safety of mission personnel and local populations while reducing harmful environmental impact from mission activities. It will be complemented by a new waste management policy for missions.

129. I also welcome the Panel’s recommendation that environmental impact assessments be carried out as part of the assessment and planning of new missions and regularly during the mission’s lifetime. I have requested the United Nations Environment Programme to provide support in establishing environmental baselines and monitoring benchmarks in peace operations. Some field missions have dedicated environmental units to develop and implement mission-specific environmental policies and oversee environmental compliance, although significant challenges remain.

V. Conclusions: a call for change

130. I approach my final year as Secretary-General with profound concern over the many challenges facing us. The scale and complexity of conflict today and the suffering that it creates threaten the international order established 70 years ago. We urgently need new and stronger ways to address international peace and security challenges. We must harness the full range of tools available: political, security, development, human rights and humanitarian, and we need to change the way in which we do business within and across that range.

131. The present report sets out how United Nations peace operations, when designed and conducted in more people-focused and targeted ways, can contribute to this global effort. It sets an agenda for action that reflects what I as Secretary -General can do to advance earlier, more tailored and more effective United Nations prevention and conflict responses. It provides a balanced and prioritized set of reforms to address the most urgent challenges facing peace operations today, while offering a basis for more long-term transformation. With smart and targeted investments in critical areas, substantial improvements can be achieved.

132. However, United Nations peace operations are only one of the tools that we urgently need. Without focused commitment on the part of Member States, the whole United Nations system, regional partners and other organizations to advancing and consolidating peace, today’s conflicts will rage into tomorrow, and yesterday’s conflicts will violently return. Peace operations are a collective tool. They are a vital part of a global commitment to preventing and resolving conflict, protecting civilians and sustaining peace. Adapting them requires a system -wide

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effort and the active engagement and support of the entire membership. I urge Member States to join me in this endeavour.

133. I recognize that it is no easy task. The global political and economic environment is perilously stretched. Resources are limited and the demands are many. Scepticism runs high. Yet those who gathered 70 years ago to create the United Nations also confronted a divided and distraught wor ld. Those strains reinforced countries’ determination to invest in international peace and security. They understood that there is simply no alternative: we must, together, renew our resolve to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.